The Cricket on the Hearth

Charles Dickens’ The Cricket on the Hearth, A Fairy Tale of Home is a novella about John Peerybingle, a carrier, his wife Dot, their baby boy and their nanny Tilly Slowboy. A cricket on the hearth constantly chirps and acts as a guardian angel to the family. One day a mysterious elderly stranger comes to visit and takes up lodging at Peerybingle’s house. Like A Christmas Carol and The Chimes, in The Cricket on the Hearth there is a moral message along with a warm holiday feeling.